With this announcement, Citi will now service BSE's investors by offering custodial services in the market for BSE-listed securities. Services include: account management, settlement of securities activity, handling post-trade issues, the collection and payment of dividends and interest, and the processing of corporate action activities in the market.

Commenting on this development, Mr. Fouad Rashid, Director of BSE, said: "Today we deliver on what we have jointly announced in May in order to encourage and facilitate further international investment in Bahrain. Citi's involvement as a custodian complements BSE's efforts to attract more foreign investment to the Kingdom and enhances the shareholders' base at BSE."

"The Kingdom of Bahrain continues to be a dynamic and exciting economy and one that we remain fully committed to," said Mazin Manna, Chief Executive of Citi Bahrain. "The launch of our direct custody and clearing services in Bahrain is in line with our objective to invest in the development of the region's top financial markets. This is also another important achievement in our strategy to embed Citi's Securities and Fund Services capabilities within the region."

Direct Custody and Clearing plays an integral role in the capital markets by providing the clearing and settlement services required for broker dealers and global custodians to support trading and investing activities around the world.

"We continue to expand our services in this region and are encouraged by the opportunities in Bahrain as well as the rest of the Middle East," said Richard Street, Head of Securities and Fund Services, Middle East. "Our DCC services are now available to investors in Bahrain and UAE, who will benefit from the local expertise and the globally-consistent services of Citi's dedicated DCC teams."

With the opening of Bahrain DCC branch, Citi's proprietary network, the largest in the world, will now comprise 58 markets globally, of which 32 markets are in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Citi has been in the Arab World for nearly 50 years and views the region as critical to its global franchise. It currently offers full scale corporate banking services across ten Arab countries including Egypt, UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait as well as Pakistan. Its consumer banking services cover UAE, Egypt, Bahrain and Pakistan, while it maintains close relationships with high net worth clients in the region through the Citi Private Bank.